Star Rail, the heir to Genshin Impact with a classic JRPG flavor

After a while in the store just to sign up, Honkai: Star Rail is finally available on Android and iOS. It’s a JRPG from the parents of Genshin Impactso we knew exactly what to expect and even so they managed to exceed expectations.

It may not be as huge a hit as Genshin Impact, as that title has garnered a lot of attention for its similarities to Zelda Breath of the Wild in some areas (we tested Tears of the Kingdom and recommend you check out impressions at Xataka, by the way), but I’m sure it will bring a lot of joy to those who give it a chance. Afterwards, I tell you my impressions of Honkai: Star Rail after playing the first hours.

You’ll be hooked on the story almost from the start

First of all, and although the game comes in through the eyes with a very well-worn intro cutscene that sets the visual tone for the rest of the game, we have to talk about history. Our colleagues from 3DJuegos have already published their analysis of Honkai: Star Rail (I recommend that you read it), so we won’t go into details, but we will tell you what it is about.

The starting point is similar to Genshin Impact, but it’s executed a bit better because you get into the action much earlier. hThere’s a threat to the galaxy and we’re the chosen one arise and may good be victorious. We start by controlling a mysterious character who will soon give way to the protagonist.

After learning some basic playable concepts, the game gives us the choice between a female and a male avatar (like in Genshin) that we have to name and which, basically, is a “Trazacaminos”: an aimless warrior who joins the crew of the Star Express to navigate between worlds completing missions with the ultimate goal of ending what threatens the galaxy.

Conversations with companions are constant, there is information that expands “knowledge” in virtually any point on the map and I notice that the levels are a bit narrower than in Genshin (normally these are two completely different genres), so we constantly receive stimuli that enrich the narrative.

Exactly, I think that the narration is the main evolution that we noticed compared to the previous MiYoho game. It shows that they have learned their lesson and that everything is more dynamichaving playable sections better interspersed between the many cutscenes.

We will be able to choose between several lines of dialogue (which in these first hours do not give me the impression that they affect the plot too much other than expanding the information) and the constant aroma is that of a classic JRPG. For better and for worse.

The gameplay is that of a classic JRPG with the rock, paper, scissors system

Playable, it’s not a game that has too much mystery for fans of the genre: turn-based combat where you always know which character will attack thanks to the ‘sneak’ at the top left of the screen and a rock-paper-scissors system that allows us to do more or less damage against enemies that also have an elemental component.

In addition, there are courses. For example, our character is a pure attack character, but our first partner is a support character who deals damage with his ultimate ability, but stands out because he can give us a temporary shield.

If all of this sounds like you, it’s because you’ve played the weird JRPG, but If this is your first adventure, the game takes care of clearing things up for you from the beginning. I think he explains his mechanics quite well, it’s easy to understand the point system to execute special attacks and the HUD elements let us know at a glance if we can attack with our special ability or use certain attacks.

In fact, something that I really like it is that the fights are not simple. We have an initial limitation both in combat and in mechanics: we can attack with normal attacks, but these do not do much damage. If we want to make the enemy bleed or enter certain states, we must use the “skills”, but the use of these is limited and requires us to recharge skill points through normal attacks.

At a certain point in the fight we can use a special ability. In the fights against the “putties” you do not have to think too much, but in the most difficult ones you will have to use your head and think of strategies by seeing the number of skill points of our class, our elemental power and the order of the attack of allies and enemies.

It doesn’t seem like an easy game to me, and that’s fine. I also have good words for the commands: it’s very intuitive. With the left virtual stick we move and with the thumb of the right hand we choose both the attacks and the enemy we want to attack. By clicking on the enemy, it is selected and you can go there. And if an attack, for some reason, deals area damage and hits two or three enemies, it will appear very clearly on the screen.

They already nailed the controls in Genshin and they did it again (although in this case it was easier, that says it all). By the way, something that I also like is that the progression system of each character is very similar to that of its previous video game And, precisely, I love that they know that many Genshin players will land in Honkai and they don’t want them to find a big barrier. I haven’t had to farm to level up yet, but we’ll see what happens with that system and with gacha items throughout the game.

Graphically it’s stupid, and also quite demanding

And visually, the game is stunning. It doesn’t come in as much through the eyes as Genshin Because we don’t have an open world, but the character designs, some interiors, and most importantly, the in-battle cameras, cutscenes, and particle effects are on a spectacular level.

It is worth noting that the company has taken the measure of mobile hardware, but of course this comes at a price. I played it on a Vivo X80 Pro, whose Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 gets very, very hot. And yes, it’s a hot SoC out of the box, but the game displays visual power that doesn’t help keep temperatures down.

I haven’t had any thermal throttling problems (we’ll see in the summer), but the phone keeps warm. There are several graphic options that we can configure at will, as if it were a PC game, but I recommend that if your mobile can, the first thing you do is change from the default 30 fps to 60 fps. The increase in fluidity is noticeable.

What I don’t really like is that on some maps there is a stark contrast. For example, in some cities we have practically empty environments that clash with extremely detailed environments. Besides, the vast majority of NPCs are about to fill up, they don’t contribute anything at all. But hey, seen from another point of view, it’s also typical of a classic JRPG…

Free to play that doesn’t overwhelm you with microtransactions

And finally, Honkai: Star Rail is what I expected, but also a little more. I expected a great game audio-visually (I didn’t talk about the sound, but it’s up to par) and good gameplay, but I was surprised by the good and successful transition of the Real-time action at the corners, with well-thought-out systems that force you to choose the best strategy.

The most notable leap from Genshin Impact is the development of the story, because from what I’ve done it manages to better engage the player from the first minutes and, it’s already personal, I considers more interesting than that of Genshin.

You need to see how the game evolves, how many expansions they release and what about ‘endgame’ contentbut the microtransactions (although they are there) are not boring and what you have in hand is a practically premium game in which you can “throw” money if you want to speed up certain processes.

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